The most popular form of shade or curtain is the rod-pocket type. With the rod-pocket configuration, the shade or curtain is provided with an elongated pocket or a plurality of loops along the upper edge of the shade or curtain through which an aluminum or wooden rod is extended. Once the rod is so positioned, it is mounted to a wall or inside a window box with mounting brackets that are already secured to the wall or window box.
One major reason for the popularity of the rod-pocket configuration is the simplicity of its design. Specifically, these shades or curtains open laterally as opposed to vertically and, therefore, require few draw strings and draw string connections to the shade or curtain. The structural simplicity permits the user to easily remove the existing shade or curtain to clean it, or replace it altogether, with another rod-pocket shade or curtain.
Despite simplifying the installation and removal process, rod-pocket shades and curtains are limited in styling. For example, more decorative shade or curtain styles such as Roman, Austrian, balloon, and cloud cannot be used with conventional rod-pocket apparatus since these styles typically require two or more vertically-pulling draw strings that are positioned in predetermined positions along the lateral extent of the shade or curtain. To form Roman, Austrian, balloon, and cloud shades or curtains, the user normally must use a wooden mounting board that is provided with several eye screws secured in positions that correlate with string paths of the shade or curtain. In preparing to hang the shade or curtain, the eye screws must be secured to the mounting board in the correct location and number to match the particulars of the shade or curtain to be hung. Although not exceedingly difficult to install and remove, this apparatus can complicate the changing of the shade or curtain. In particular, when the user wishes to replace an existing shade or curtain with another, the eye screws usually must be removed and repositioned to accommodate the new shade or curtain or the entire mounting board must be removed and replaced with a newly configured mounting board.
In an effort to alleviate the difficulty in installing and removing different Roman, Austrian, balloon, cloud, and similarly styled shades or curtains, several different hanging devices have been devised. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,297, issued to Koller et al., discloses a balloon shade hanging apparatus that uses a curtain rod and cord eyelets that are releasably positionable along the length of the rod. Despite permitting the user to hang balloon shades, this design is undesirable for heavier shades and curtains because of the likelihood of the rod bending or breaking the thin wall mounting brackets under the weight of the shade or curtain. Additionally, the complexity of the design increases manufacturing costs and complicates installation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,908, Chen describes a curtain assembly device that uses a plurality of roller brackets positionable along the length of a support member. Although providing for vertical drawing of the curtain, the Chen design likewise employs intricate parts and is complex in configuration and operation.
From the above, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have apparatus that is simple in construction and operation which provides vertical drawing of decorative shades and curtains, and easy changing of styles of the shades or curtains.